Walter Marino
Level Designer / Game Designer

🕐 Time
13 Days, March-April 2024

♟️ Genres
FPS, Action-Adventure, Single Player

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📐 Level Type

Indoor, Verticality, Linear with Parallel/Non-Linear moments

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🕐 Length

Around 15-20 minutes (Until now)

🖥️ Technology used
Blockout & Coding - Unreal Engine 5, Blueprints, Geometry Brushes

🧭 Design Philosophy and Analysis
An Action-Adventure FPS level, located inside an abandoned factory. The level is non-linear, allowing the player to pick the pathway and explore, discovering the many secrets hidden along the way. 

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🎯 Project Goals & Design Challenges

• Combine linear and non-linear design elements to give players both structure and freedom

• Use verticality as a key mechanic to enhance exploration, orientation, and emotional payoff

• Design an intuitive tutorial section that teaches core mechanics through gameplay rather than text or scripted events

• Demonstrate rapid level development and an iterative design approach, showcasing adaptability and polish

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🧪 My Creative Process

• Began with a mood board to define the level’s atmosphere and visual language

• Created a paper breakdown of the level's structure, key beats, and emotional goals

• Moved into the engine for blockout and prototyping.

• Broke the level into distinct sections, each with clear objectives and unique pacing

• Defined player destinations early in each section to guide spatial understanding

• Designed a "Golden Route" that players can follow organically, while allowing freedom to explore off-path areas

• Populated the space with affordances, geometry, and gameplay elements to support multiple approaches

• Conducted group playtesting and polishing cycles to refine layout, flow, and clarity

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📏 Level Design Principles

• “Stairs are boring” – prefer dynamic movement tools (e.g. jumps, elevators, platforms) to support vertical play

• “Doors are useless” – encourage open sightlines and environmental storytelling over closed transitions

• “Verticality is the best friend of exploration” – use elevation changes to create reference points, progression feedback, and discovery

• “The destination must be clear from the beginning” – anchor player motivation with visible goals

• “Visual blockers make players curious” – use geometry to guide attention and hint at hidden areas or secrets

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🔀 Level Design Language in The Tower

• ⭐ Stars mark main goals or optional objectives, giving players a visual target without intrusive UI

• 🛠️ Pipes act as navigational guides, subtly leading the player toward key destinations

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At the heart of The Tower is my design philosophy:

 

"The level wants to be played—how you play it is up to you."
I aim to craft spaces that invite curiosity, support player agency, and create memorable, experiential gameplay moments.

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The Tower is built around a core theme: the sensation of vertigo and the feeling of accomplishment that comes from overcoming height-based challenges. Players are frequently asked to make daring jumps across towering spaces—yet these moments are intentionally designed to be accessible. The true difficulty is placed where recovery is quick and frustration is minimised, ensuring a smoother, more rewarding gameplay loop.

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Verticality plays a central role—not just mechanically, but emotionally. As players ascend, they can look down and see the progress they’ve made, reinforcing a tangible sense of growth and mastery. Vertical structures also act as navigational landmarks, helping players orient themselves during exploration.

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To guide player movement and curiosity, I use environmental geometry to subtly direct attention. The layout balances clear objectives with hidden elements, sparking exploration and discovery without overwhelming the player. In visually dense or vertically complex areas, I use interactive elements like crates, elevators, or falling platforms to draw players toward key paths and prevent them from feeling lost.

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The level is designed with non-linearity in mind, offering multiple paths to the final goal. This open structure empowers players to choose their own route, supporting replayability and minimising the sense of being "railroaded." Many of the level’s mini-puzzles also reflect this ethos, offering multiple solutions or approaches.

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While enemy encounters are not yet fully implemented, I’ve placed placeholder silhouettes in key areas, planning ahead for AI integration and combat flow. These will later be paired with custom behaviour trees to complement the exploration and puzzle-solving elements.